Posting Order or Posting Discussion?

Crow

What on earth do some people think a posting order is? Because I am becoming more and more bewildered when I hear winging and whining about having to move to a new unit, especially when some people seem to spend the majority of their career in one area. Is an âOrderâ not an âOrderâ? Or is it a case of 'when is an order not an order'? 'when I dont like the sound of it...' Yes, there may be some good reason for someone to extend in post however, is it also not good to move around occasionally to allow individuals to develop and show they are worthy of promotion and share their experiences with others?

LE

its a bit like the case of the Cpl who was told that he was off to Cyprus, zipiddy doodaa, all excited and planning the family move, but then it turns out his friend who had actually told him the news (from the grapevine) was wrong and he was posted within the UK, tears and tantrums followed, 'my family are settled in this area, it would be wrong to move them!!' etc.. err hang on a minute, half an hour ago youd almost taken the kids out of school and packed your house!! obviously he still went, because as said above, when records send you a posting order its an order, its not a posting request.

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Swinger

it used to be a case of "your going there" and you would pack your mfo and go.when it was just Fd Ambs, AFA's, Fd hosp and the MRS posts every one was pretty much the same. But for a number of years we,ve had the teeth arm and combat support postings, which do not suit everyone, so why not defer a certain post if thats not your slant, somone else may want it. but at the end of the day it is bums on seats for glasgow ,and i dont think they look into a lot of peoples files when they post them, you do sometimes get folk posted to jobs they have little or no aptitude,experience or qaulifications, which isnt fair on them or anyone else.

Old-Salt

I can see your point noshame however, should we all strive to stretch ourselves by developing and experiencing new challenges to shown our juniors, peers and masters what we are capable of? It just appears to be the norm at present for some individuals to work the system, as you put it 'if thats not your slant'. With manning numbers as they are presently Glasgow have a very difficult job to do and I can assure you that its not bums on seats; if an individual has been identified in their reports with an aptitude for certain employments then that exactly where it is identified from. It's not in anyone interest, especially the individual concerned to be posted into an employment where they are unhappy. That said, is it fair and equitable on others to have someone staying in one unit or location for most of their career?

Old-Salt

Come on Leviticus, you can't honestly expect us to believe that most postings are planned?

I am sure that some are but a good many are just a question of 'oh they're due posting they can go'.

Similarly with deployments no thought of skill mix (military or clinical) just oh who hasn't done one for a while. Of course this is another area where people seem to have sudden spurious reasons to stay home!

LE

youre a nurse, your postings arent planned, names are thrown in the air above a board with units written on in crayon or half a potato dipped in a water soluble paint, where ever you land, thats where you go. Other trades are different.
Some people will try and stay at the same unit forever, usually going down the welfare or compassionate route in order to do so, mainly because they are afraid of going into a new unit and being unsure of if theyll fit in (lack of self confidence) or because of some financial benifit (the unit they are at at present may let them away for shed loads of agency work etc..)

FLLnurse said:

Similarly with deployments no thought of skill mix (military or clinical) just oh who hasn't done one for a while.

May be the case in the grey mafia, some trades (like mine) actually get a steady stream of volunteers for tours, but there are the tossers who will try to tour dodge and arent doing their fair share.
In a small trade like mine weve still got 1 who isnt downgraded (with anything other than a jack attitude) who hasnt been on Telic or in fact any deployment for several years.

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War Hero

I can't decide which is more irritating. Old b*stards whingeing about how "In my day, an Order was an Order and you went where you were bl**dy told"; or cynical b*stards whingeing about how "MCM Divs couldn't manage their way out of a soggy paper bag"?

There are too many jobs and not enough people. Do you think that the MCM Divs are there for your benefit? Sorry, chum, "the needs of the Army must come first": so if a job absolutely has to be done, then the MCM Div will send someone who fits the bill as close as possible. He's useless? Then blame his ROs who got him promoted, not the Desk Officers who never met the sad fcuker.

"But the needs of the soldier and his family come a close second", so (horrors!) the MCM Div is open to logic: if there are good reasons that a soldier should not move to a particular job and the job can be filled from other means then why fight it? They don't know the soldiers individually, so it may be up to the soldier or the soldier's unit to emphasize his situation when a problem arises.

I don't work in APC. I never have. I've never been sent where I asked to be and never been given the job that I wanted, and sometimes I've even been given jobs I wasn't qualified for but that doesn't mean that my Desk Officer is incompetent or malicious. It means he's allocating scarce resources in a competitive environment and trying to make the best of a bad job.

LE

Example: One young CMT class 2, gets married & wants a certain posting to be near his Mrs, who is also serving. He is told that to get that post, he must be a class 1. MCM Div are sympathetic to his needs and post him there, but serveral months in the future & load him onto his class 1, so when the time comes, he's quall'ed for the post.

This is not good enough for the stupid idiot, so he kicks up a stink & signs off! What is wrong with this person. What more could have been done for him?

It really defies belief.

edited to look less stupid cheers FF

Chuffed to bits, my room is about 100m from the runway & the red arrows are doing their training.

LE

"Any statements I make while using this website are purely of my own opinion and are not to be construed as statements of fact and are not said with any intended malice. My opinions are a reflection of my earned right to freedom of expression and speech and do not necessarily reflect that of the site owners."

Old-Salt

As far as I can see, "Postings" are like a box of chocolates etc etc ( I know its a sh*te quote), but it does seem like you hardly get what you put on your posting preference proforma and that mediocrity is rewarded with decent postings, e.g. to Cyprus etc. Still to answer the exam question, three years is enough in any post and its good for the system and the individual to get out of a "comfort zone" and get experience in a new post - unless of course, the individual is a complete f*ckwit, then keep him in a Med Regt!!

LE

My wife is German, so obviously I'd like to stay in Germany. It makes sense - if I go on tour for six months, she's got family around her and doesn't feel alone. The same applies to soldiers who don't want to go to Germany, as they have close family ties in England/NI/Scotland etc. I agree that moving around is good for you, and I personally can't wait to leave the shit hole I'm at now. I got posted back from Germany to swap with a lad in Northern Ireland 5 years ago, he didn't want to leave Ireland and I was happy in Germany. "Don't whinge, just start packing" was the answer to us both. WHY? Surely if two soldiers in that situation are happy where they are, why not leave things as they are for another year or so, until other posts open up? Or is it just a case of MCM DIV seeing an order through so they can forget about that soldier for another few years?

Swinger

i must be a fcukwit!im more than happy in my med sqn!!, got sick to death of all the same teeth arm posts, you know being a step down from the agc doing med docs cos as a ceg cmts cant do bugger all cos of clinical governance as no one seems to know what we can cant do, and what needs to be done so we can do it!answers on a postcard please! and how much bfat or bcd can you teach/assess in 3 years too much!if i got given another teeth arm i respectfully decline as more than 3 is greedyxx

ADC

My wife is German, so obviously I'd like to stay in Germany. It makes sense - if I go on tour for six months, she's got family around her and doesn't feel alone. The same applies to soldiers who don't want to go to Germany, as they have close family ties in England/NI/Scotland etc. I agree that moving around is good for you, and I personally can't wait to leave the s*** hole I'm at now. I got posted back from Germany to swap with a lad in Northern Ireland 5 years ago, he didn't want to leave Ireland and I was happy in Germany. "Don't whinge, just start packing" was the answer to us both. WHY? Surely if two soldiers in that situation are happy where they are, why not leave things as they are for another year or so, until other posts open up? Or is it just a case of MCM DIV seeing an order through so they can forget about that soldier for another few years?

SkintBoy - lots of comments I could make, some about money! However maybe the army would like a full career-rounded soldier rather than a rounded soldier. It sounds like you were getting very settled in, why not apply for the Budeswehr then? You obviously can't wait to leave the s***hole you are in because you did not want to be there in the first place. Choice belongs to you, army or out - these are the only 2 choices. BTW I am no longer serving.

War Hero

Also, MCM Div could be accused of career-fouling you if they were to deliberately prevent you from taking a posting that would enhance your promotion prospects: even if it was at your specific request. The reasoning goes that they - not you - understand the processes of selection and promotion best.

I was involved in numerous similar cases when I held an RCMO role. Sometimes I could turn off an unwanted posting, sometimes I couldn't. And when I couldn't it was invariably because the soldier required the experience or profile of the new job in order to make the leap past the quality line on the next board. I always did my best to try to explain the benefits of such a posting to the soldier, but some just won't listen.